Authors: Vacirca Vaughn
Paulo walked out of the bedroom to where Phoenix was still trembling
on the couch. “Baby, give me your keys. You go on up to Cara’s and I will
meet you up there in an hour or so. I am going to stick around and make
sure Cedric gets everything he needs. I am going to help him into a cab
and I am going to make sure we close this door for good.”
Phoenix was shocked. She stood. “What? What did you
say to him? You’re going to help him too? I can’t even believe that
son of—”
“Phoenix,” Paulo’s tone was firm. “Go.”
As if commanded by some unseen force, she nodded without a
word. She grabbed her bag, and a tissue to dab at her face, and left.
Paulo walked back into the room with a clenched fist he kept close to
his side. “Okay, so what belongs to you and what doesn’t? And please,
Dude, take whatever you want because whatever you
steal
, I’ll just
replace...”
Phoenix trembled all the way to the elevator and all the way to the
eighth floor. She had no idea what was going on, but she felt the hatred
swirling within her all the way to the depths of her soul. She would make
Cedric pay. She would get revenge. As she looked her best, she
would show him what he was missing and he would regret ever trying to hurt her.
She was grateful to Paulo, but she knew the door he was trying to
close could never be until she repaid Cedric for his treatment of her.
She started to feel giddy thinking about it as she walked to Cara’s
apartment.
Chapter 18
The way of
fools seems right to them, but the wise listens to advice (Proverbs 12:15).
“He did what?”
Cara shouted, as she helped Phoenix try on a short, baby doll dress in fuchsia
and pink with a fitted top and flowing skirt. Before Phoenix could
continue the story about what had transpired that afternoon with Cedric, Cara
cut her off. “Wait, hold that thought,” she said as she struggled with
Phoenix’s new dress. After Phoenix got into the dress, she quickly
searched through a bin labeled “Size 16/2X” before shrieking a satisfied,
“Found it!”
Cara came over
and helped Phoenix get into a short leather motorcycle jacket, similar to the
one she had worn the first day Phoenix met her. She watched Phoenix get
into a pair of black wedge sandals that were stylish and comfortable.
With her nose wrinkling in concentration, she placed three silver bangles
and another bracelet covered with mini fuchsia butterflies. She handed
Phoenix a matching ring for her index finger. A pair of large hoops
completed the look.
Phoenix was
marveling at her new friend’s talent. “Where did you learn how to do
this, Cara?”
Cara smiled,
“It’s all God-given,
Babygirl
. Oh, and my
degree from FIT don’t hurt neither!”
After they
shared a laugh, Cara said, “You can continue now, Phoenix. But sit over
here while I do some make up on this pretty face.” She sat Phoenix down
and threw a smock around her shoulders.
Phoenix rolled
her eyes. “Do you even have makeup to match my skin tone?”
Cara pursed her
lips. “What’s wrong with you? You really must got a complex or
something. Girl, I have make up for chicks white as chalk and chicks
black as tar and everybody in between. Look what I did for my friend,
Susan.” She handed Phoenix a picture of an extremely tall, buxom woman
who was wearing a large, curly afro. Her skin was the color of dried prunes,
and she was large, but quite pretty. “She models for me sometimes for the
site. This was a picture of her before her engagement party. I
styled her of course.”
“She’s pretty.”
“And so are
you! It don’t take two minutes to look like that or to look like
this,”
Cara said gesturing at herself. “You got to put some effort into
it. Even Halle Berry don’t look like Halle Berry in the morning,
Girl! After we figure out your best looks, I will teach you how to apply
the makeup. Now finish telling me about your ex.”
So Phoenix did
as Cara worked. She talked about Cedric and their relationship and
finding him cheating on her. She talked about meeting Paulo in the park after
the fight with her mother.
“I can’t believe
your mom said to stay with him! My mother would have handed me the knife
to cut James, had it been me! And she still isn’t speaking to you, almost
two months later?” Cara shook her head as she applied mascara to
Phoenix’s lashes. “You got some nice eyebrows now that I’ve shaped them,
and beautiful lashes too,
Chica
.
Girls
pay for what you got. Anyway, so your mom told you to stay…”
Phoenix flushed
with pleasure. “First, let me say thanks for the compliment.” she said
sweetly. “Anyway…” she continued her rant about her mother.
Phoenix then
discussed ducking and dodging Paulo for six weeks before he found her just a
couple of weeks prior. “I don’t know how or why, but I feel like I’ve
known him for years. We met a couple of months ago, and hung out for the
past couple weeks, working out or praying, but I feel like I—” She closed her
eyes, feeling the brush on her cheekbones. “
Naw
,
it’s crazy.”
“What?” the
brush stopped as Cara straightened up to look at her. “You love him,
don’t you?” Cara giggled. “I can’t fault you. I would fall in love
too if I didn’t have my better half. That man is Godly, gorgeous, tall,
exotic, kind, sexy, funny, down-to-earth, patient, loving—”
Phoenix cast
Cara a look. “Um, you sure you’re not in love with Paulo?”
Cara sucked her
teeth. “I’m just saying,
Chica
.
I’m
married, not dead! But the question is, are
you
in love with
Paulo?”
Ashamed,
Phoenix remained silent.
“Listen,
Chica
,
ain’t no reason to be bashful. I
fell in love with James’s
picture
before I even met him. We were
both on that site, Christianlove.com? I read his profile and said, ‘I
want this man.’ Didn’t even hear his voice, but I knew. Anyway, I
wanted to reach out but I was scared, being a big girl and all. I didn’t
know if I was his type ‘cause not every man likes a full-figured woman.
So, I prayed. Before I knew it, James had sent me a message the same
evening. We emailed back and forth for the entire evening, before going
on instant messenger. Normally it would scare me to move fast, being from
the internet and all, but he asked to meet and I agreed. We met the
following day for coffee. We went to his church, Paulo’s church, the next
week. I left mine and joined his, loving being in Times Square for church
every week, especially since we got to meet so many people and have a lot of
fun after service. Plus, I couldn’t
wait
to get out of that strict
Pentecostal church my family attends. Anyway, we got married seven months
later. Been together, like, eight years.”
“Wow.”
Cara chuckled.
“When God puts it together, Phoenix, it ain’t on our timing. It’s on His,
believe that. I was single for, like, five years. Never even went
on a date. I focused on finishing school, building my dream career, and
held on to Jesus. When He got ready, it was like,
bam!
It
moved so fast, and I was scared sometimes, but again, it is not on our
timing.” Cara paused. “Especially when you build a relationship
God’s way, without all that premarital sex and all the things the world
encourages in relationships these days. When you enter a courtship, put
together by God, it’s for marriage. Paulo just has to figure out if he
feels the same about you. And if he does, it’s on,
Chica
!”
Phoenix
considered her words for a moment before continuing her story. “And now,
Paulo is downstairs supposedly helping move Cedric’s things out of my
apartment.”
Cara
laughed. “You mean he’s moving Cedric out of your life! Well,
praise God. It sounds like Paulo
does
feel that way about
you. That man is a good, Godly man. He takes charge and he handles
business. I love that dude. James and him are so alike in that
way. I guess because they are becoming more like Christ in that
way. And he’s been through so much with his wife dying—”
Phoenix sat up
straighter. “Yeah, he’s mentioned her, but I never knew how she died.”
Cara
laughed. “And you won’t know until he shares it with you. Sorry I
brought it up.”
Phoenix groaned
as Cara ignored her and continued blending and swiping on her face.
“So what you
gonna
do now?” Cara asked.
“I guess I am
going to work out with Paulo, take better care of myself, and one day, I’ll
make Cedric pay.”
Cara
frowned. “What you mean by that? Only God can make him pay.”
Phoenix pressed
her lips together, unsure if she should continue. She felt so
comfortable with her new friend already, but wasn’t sure she could handle any
sermons right then, not after everything Cedric had done to her. Deciding
she needed support, she took a breath and continued. “I plan to make
Cedric pay because I am going to get him back and—”
Cara stopped
her application. “What do you mean get him back? As in return to
the relationship? Didn’t you just say you’re falling in love with Paulo?”
Phoenix looked
away from Cara’s astonished stare. “I am falling for Paulo, but I plan to
get Cedric to pay for what he did to me. I won’t be able to move on
unless I do.”
“Or you can
move on with God’s help. You can forgive Cedric and focus on what God is
doing in your life now. And you could be careful with Paulo’s feelings,” Cara
kept her tone light, mindful to keep condemnation out of her tone. She
knew from Paulo that Phoenix had not dedicated her life to Christ—yet.
She knew that Paulo felt that the Lord had brought him into Phoenix’s life to
minister to her, and to help her. She also knew what Paulo did not
share. That he was already developing feelings for her. She had
been delighted at the look in Paulo’s eyes as he shared information about this
woman, Phoenix, whom he believed God had brought into his life. She and
James had been excited to see Paulo moving forward, but now she was
worried. If Phoenix was determined to allow bitterness to drive her
to get revenge, she knew any potential that Phoenix and Paulo had to move
forward would be hindered.
Help them, Lord. And please help me
to be the friend You want me to be to Phoenix.
“I know I don’t
want to do anything to hurt Paulo. I know what he’s already done for
me. It’s just that this is something I
have
to do!” Phoenix was
startled at the vehemence in her own voice as she punched her fist. She
struggled to calm herself. “He broke my heart. He used me. He
told me I was too ugly to love…twice! I have to do this.”
Cara let out a
hollow chuckle. “No,
Chica
.
The
only thing you
have
to do is stay black, find Christ, and die.”
Deciding it was time to lighten the mood, she dropped her brush onto her makeup
table. “Enough talk about the past and revenge.” She pulled Phoenix
out of her chair. “Now take a look at the new you!” She turned
Phoenix to the full-length mirror with a flourish.
Phoenix stood
in that mirror for at least five minutes without a word.
Cara, noticing
the bewildered expression on Phoenix’s face, became anxious. “You don’t
like it?” Her voice was shaking as she raced to find a tissue to wipe off
Phoenix’s face. “I can change it, but—”
“Don’t you
dare!” Phoenix snapped. “You are so—” Phoenix’s words became strangled as
tears flooded her eyes.
“Oh no!
Don’t cry. I’m sorry, I thought—” Cara’s own lips trembled as she
dabbed at Phoenix’s eyes. “Let me fix what you don’t like. I can
try—”
Phoenix threw
her arms around her friend’s neck. “It’s perfect. You are a
genius!”
Cara’s relief
flooded her so powerfully she almost drowned in it. “You like it?”
“I can’t
believe you are able to do this… with
me!”
Phoenix released her
friend to take a closer look. Her eyes searched her face. She could
not see the mineral makeup that flawlessly covered every open pore and dark
mark on Phoenix’s face. The mascara stretched her already long lashes
another few centimeters while the light bronze eye shadow made her large,
almond-shaped, brown eyes sparkling and bright. Her lips looked full and
lush with the Mac
Lipglass
Cara had used. The
knee-length, baby-doll dress highlighted Phoenix’s full bust, while hiding the
bulge in the middle. The waist cincher Cara had given Phoenix was not
uncomfortable and gave her a more defined waist. The jacket made Phoenix
look chic, but not over the top. The short length of the dress and the
slight height of the wedge sandals elongated Phoenix’s very strong, sexy legs.
As if reading
her mind, Cara said, “You do have nice legs. You need to show them off
more.”
“I can’t
believe you did this for me,” Phoenix continued to stare. “The team on
What
Not to Wear
couldn’t have done a better job.”
“You got that
right!” Cara said, pleased. “I am thankful you trusted me to try this on
you, Phoenix,” Cara said graciously. “And you know what else? I
didn’t add nothing or take nothing away. We worked with what
you
already
had. I mean we used
Spanx
, but girl, I don’t
see nothing wrong with that!”
Phoenix was
overcome. Already she felt like a million dollars and she had not even
lost a full ten pounds.